


Fractured

by BuckyAndDanno



Series: The Prince of Thorns [2]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Bad Ass Danny "Danno" Williams, Criminal Danny, Danny Is Still Not Quite Danny, Former CIA Agent Danny "Danno" Williams, M/M, References to Ocean's 11, Rusty Ryan Makes Appearances, Sequel, Two Months After 'The Line', mcdanno
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-02
Updated: 2020-05-21
Packaged: 2021-03-02 06:35:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23966998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BuckyAndDanno/pseuds/BuckyAndDanno
Summary: Two months after Danny took down the King, he's settled into a somewhat mundane civilian life. But shadows lurk in the former Detective's fractured mind, and there are secrets he's still hiding from Steve. When someone decides to take shots at Danny and those closest to him, how far will he go to protect those he loves?
Relationships: Steve McGarrett & Danny "Danno" Williams, Steve McGarrett/Danny "Danno" Williams
Series: The Prince of Thorns [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1727938
Comments: 27
Kudos: 64





	1. Secrets

**Author's Note:**

> Hello lovelies! Here’s the first instalment of the sequel to ‘The Line’. I am having such a fun time plotting this one out – there are lots of twists and turns ahead. I really hope you enjoy it!
> 
> This chapter features a cameo by Rusty Ryan from Ocean’s 11, because I love him. I also apologise for Rusty in advance; I wasn’t necessarily going to make this a McDanno fic, but Rusty kind of ran away with me… :)
> 
> I don’t own Hawaii Five-0 or Ocean’s 11/Rusty.

There’s something that had to be said for civilian life, Danny Williams thought, as he stared out at the waves lapping the shore. The crystal blue water soothed his ragged soul, despite the memories of the past year threatening to torment him.

Joining the CIA had been a lifesaving decision at the time. He’d been wrecked by Steve’s choice to leave the island, destroyed by Rachel taking Charlie away, and the job had given him a lot more than just trying to replace what he’d lost.

But it had never been enough.

He’d let his broken heart get too attached to people he should have been putting behind bars, and that was only his first of many mistakes.

Ezra Malone, his former partner, had been disappointed when Danny told him that he was leaving the agency, but he’d understood. He was shocked to find out Danny wasn’t even going back to Five-0, but again, he’d understood. He knew all too well what it was like trying to pull yourself back from the darkness, after being in deep cover for so long, so he’d understood Danny’s hesitance to return.

They still talked frequently, and it was something Danny was especially glad for. Everyone else he had were too much polar opposites to ever truly understand what Danny’s broken psyche had been capable opposite.

Like he said, he’d made many mistakes, and there were plenty of them he was still making.

He made frequent trips to Honolulu County Prison in the past two months, since his own release from hospital, and it was one of the few things that made his new existence somewhat interesting.

He was living with Steve, the neanderthal being a complete mother hen when it came to anything and everything. It had been nice at first, when he’d still been recovering from his injuries, but his cane had been retired weeks ago, just as spry as he once was, and now Danny was just annoyed by it.

They’d had a few arguments about it, and all Steve would say was that Danny was his responsibility; that it was his fault the way everything went down. Danny would argue vehemently against it, and Steve would play the guilt card, and then they’d grab some beers and sit out on their deck chairs.

Same thing, every week, like clockwork.

The rest of Five-0 too had their own ‘look after Danny’ schedules, and the whole thing just felt tedious. He was pretty certain he still wasn’t entirely in Quinn and Junior’s good books yet, but they did their ‘duty’ with a smile, and it wasn’t all bad. It just felt stale.

The entirety of his life now was nothing more than a schedule on everyone else’s watches.

He even only spoke to Charlie at the times when Rachel allowed it.

So yes, he visited the prison and spoke with Mikey when **he** wanted to; it was the only thing in Danny’s life now that he felt he had any semblance of control over. For all he’d called Steve a control freak for most of those ten years, Danny hated living life on everyone else’s terms.

Maybe it’s one of the many reasons he’d enjoyed being Jay so much.

Maybe that was why a part of him still craved the power of an engine beneath him and the thrill of the chase.

His phone trills from the table beside him, and he looks over at the ID, smiling.

_Text from Rusty: So I found this place in Santa Monica that does **the best** Quesadillas you have ever tasted._

_Text to Rusty: You ever think about anything other than food?_

_Text from Rusty: Danny._

_Text to Rusty: I’m guessing you mean Ocean._

_Text from Rusty: Your choice._

He barks out a laugh, lips twisting into a wide grin.

_Text to Rusty: Sorry. I’ve got my own bumbling idiot to deal with._

Mistake number two was likely keeping in touch with people he knew to be con artists and thieves. But Rusty Ryan was a decent guy who Danny had gotten fairly close to, in his stint as a criminal, and there was so much water under their bridge that it was hard to just build a dam and forget about it. Besides, Danny knew they only went after people who’d created their riches through shady business deals and criminal connections of their own, such as Terry Benedict, so Danny hardly felt bad about that, really. Their one exception had been the Hawaii Job organised by Danny himself, but even that was in aid of a CIA investigation so…

He knew he was walking a tight line, but it was very much still blurred beneath him, despite cutting so many ties. Surely leaving one or two just helped keep him steady?

He knows he’s lying to himself, he just doesn’t want to admit that he’s not quite as fine as he’s been leading Steve to believe.

_Text from Rusty: Yeah, how is the novel coming along?_

_Text to Rusty: What?_

As far as friends went, Danny sure did know how to pick them.

_Text from Rusty: The Criminal and the Commander._

Danny rolls his eyes, sighing heavily. After everything with The King had gone down, Rusty had somehow gotten an inside scoop on, well… everything, and had called Danny for a nice long rant about how it wasn’t nice to lie to your friends about the fact that you are in fact a cop. Danny had explained the situation and promised he wasn’t sending anyone for the eleven, and had in fact kept their involvement out of his report entirely. It had taken time, but Rusty had eventually forgiven him after Danny sent a basket of fried goods to his home. Rusty had somehow then gotten _everything_ out of Danny – he blamed alcohol – and loved to tease the former Detective about it.

_Text to Rusty: There’s no story, so shut up._

_Text from Rusty: Someone’s tetchy._

_Text to Rusty: Go bother your boyfriend._

_Text from Rusty: He’s working :(_

_Text to Rusty: Then go eat._

_Text from Rusty: Fine, but only because they have churros. This isn’t over Jay-bird._

Danny flinches visibly, the nickname sending him back to months passed.

He tries not to think too much about Natoli, about Eli’s betrayal, beyond his visits to Mikey, but it’s hard.

Natoli’s ring weighs heavy on his finger.

He doesn’t even know why he kept it, looking down at the glinting gold; the viper. No, that’s a lie. He knows exactly why he kept it, why he always wears it, but the reasons are his alone and he doesn’t dare to even think them, really.

Mistake number three.

He should have thrown it into the ocean.

Correction, he should have told Steve and had Five-0 and the CIA look into the rest of the King’s network; ensure it was completely disbanded. But he’d frozen. It was his last link to the person he’d come to respect and – in some ways – admire. It was his link to a part of himself that he didn’t want to let go.

He twists the metal where it sits on his finger, lost in thought, but then he hears the patio doors open a distance behind him, and drops his hand completely, obscuring it in his shorts pocket.

He should tell Steve. He knows he should.

He can’t.

“You been out here all day?” Steve says as he slips into the chair beside Danny’s, taking in the other man’s tan.

Danny just smile at Steve. “Civilian life, it’s kinda nice.”

“So you’re bored?”

“So very bored.”

Yes, there was something to be said for civilian life.

It sucked.

Yet every time Steve asked him to come back to Five-0, his answer was always ‘not yet.’

Danny honestly didn’t think his answer would ever be what Steve wanted to hear.

If he was truly honest with himself, he didn’t think he could ever go back to being a cop, and that scared him more than anything.


	2. The Hit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Thank you so much for the lovely comments on chapter one; I’m glad you’re all intrigued by the sequel! Rusty makes another text-cameo in this chapter, and I apologise in advance for him causing havoc for our boys :) Also, small warning for some swearing.
> 
> I don’t own Hawaii Five-0 or Ocean’s 11/Rusty.

It was certainly a cliché that meetings between criminals always took place in dark, dank warehouses, and yet here they were. Met at the door by armed guards, checked for weapons and relieved of anything they had.

The Tiger would have been offended, except he knows he would have done the exact same thing. That, and he knows better than to cross the King’s Man. So he submits himself and his own men to the degradation of being stripped of their weapons, then heads inside.

The first thing he notices is the two others waiting in the makeshift lounge that has been set up.

The Spider eyes him warily from their perch on the edge of one of the couches, sipping leisurely from a martini glass. Anton Veigh has never been his biggest fan, but they’ve worked together once or twice for the purposes of The Collective. It had always been the King’s decision however, and they had never not voiced their disdain for one another.

The Shark is another matter. Lain from end to end on the other couch, beer bottle dangling from their hand, Anelineh Chen looks completely unconcerned with the reason they had been called here. Her eyes are glassy and blissed out, but The Tiger knows a lot of it is just an act. She’s as sharp as they come, and never more prepared to slit someone’s throat. She’s probably the most dangerous of all of them.

He himself is well built, muscles bulging impressively under his tailored suit. He takes a seat on the other end of the couch to Anton, helping himself to a tumblr of whiskey.

Anton rolls his eyes. “Well isn’t this a party.”

Anelineh grins. “It’s a funeral, numb nut. For our dear departed brother!” Her voice rings out across the warehouse as she laughs maniacally, raising her beer bottle.

“It is neither.” A dark voice booms, and The Tiger doesn’t deny that a shiver runs down his back.

The King’s Man steps out from the shadows, eyeing them all with annoyance and disregard. “Francesco Natoli betrayed the late King, bringing a viper into our ranks.”

“Pun intended.” Anelineh smirks.

The King’s Man shoots her a glare, but continues. “That said, the King is now dead. Another must rise in his stead.”

“I say we smash the patriarchy and allow a Queen to rule.”

The Tiger shoots Anelineh a look this time, but she seems completely unconcerned, taking another swig from her bottle.

“The Collective’s stance on succession is clear. Where the former King has not yet chosen his successor, the crown falls to the man or woman who killed them; except in the circumstance where they were a sworn Prince or Princess.”

The Spider is the first to rise, anger in their eyes. “You cannot be serious!”

“The Collective is unanimous. The Viper’s apprentice received the ring but did not take his vows. He was not yet sworn to the former King and as such his act was not treason. The Collective recognises Daniel Williams as the new regent.”

The Tiger also leaps to his feet. “He’s a god damn cop!”

Anelineh is still smirking. “Now that’s a plot twist I was not expecting.”

The King’s Man shoots them all looks of annoyance, but his eyes are narrow, lips twisted into a dark smile. “The fact remains, however, that while the Collective does not see fit to depose you themselves, none of you are sworn to the new regent. As such, perhaps it is best if you decide where your loyalties are best to lie, and seek him out should you wish to continue.”

They’re all simmering, but The Tiger understands what the King’s Man is trying to tell them, for he too is not sworn to Williams.

“The King is dead. Long live the King.” The King’s Man says. “However long he may reign.”

As they leave, The Tiger leans over to his most trusted advisor, a grin playing on his lips. “Williams has made an enemy of the wrong people. Have our friends in Hawaii pay him a visit.”

The purr of the Camaro is familiar and comforting as he winds his way back from Honolulu County Prison. It’s only just past 10am, but after an argument with Steve the night before, he hadn’t wanted to stick around much in the morning.

He felt a little calmer after having had a talk with Mikey, and was planning on making a stop at his and Steve’s favourite bakery as a way of apologising to the ex Navy SEAL.

They’d been having a nice enough night, sat on their deck chairs outside, with Eddie, nursing beers as they watched the sunset. Then Danny’s phone had pinged with another text from Rusty, and Steve being Steve had picked it up, smirking at Danny’s attempts to snatch his own phone back.

Then the grin on Steve’s face had faded upon seeing what exactly Rusty had sent.

_The phone showed an MMS from Rusty, specifically a picture of the two of them in Vegas, lounging around a pool with swim shorts on, looking very close for comfort. Danny had managed to snatch it back then, taking advantage of Steve’s distraction, but the damage was done._

_“Former colleague?” Steve has said._

_Danny sighed softly. “You could say that.” He was only glad the text hadn’t been something worse – for example Rusty divulging details of exactly what his and Ocean’s work was._

_“You could have told me, you know?” Steve said, sounding sad, and that in turn had confused Danny._

_“Told you what?”_

_“That you’ve been seeing someone.”_

_Danny drew back like he’d been slapped. “What?”_

_“I’m your best friend. You should have told me.” Steve snapped. “If you thought I’d care that it was a guy – ”_

_There’s something in the way he says it that pains Danny, but mostly he finds himself feeling angry. “I’m not seeing Ru-Ryan!” He manages to catch himself at the last minute from revealing way more than he wanted Steve to know. “And even if I was, what gives you the right to feel like you should know every aspect of my life!”_

_“You’re my best friend!”_

_“And you still left for two god damn years!” Danny had screamed, a dark part of him enjoying the way Steve reeled back, pain in his gaze. “We may be okay now but that doesn’t just go away because you want to pretend it never happened.”_

_Danny had stood then, making his way back into the house. “You don’t know everything about me, Steven.” He hadn’t even been thinking about the secrets he’d specifically been keeping from Steve, or everything that had gone down during his time undercover. He’d been thinking personally; about the bubbling feelings for his former partner that had been there for longer than Danny could remember._

_“No… I don’t…”_

He’d regretted it all as soon as he’d shut the door to his room, but pride hadn’t let him apologize then. He was too wound up with everything – too drowned by his own hurricane of feelings – to recognise how hurtful his words would have been to Steve.

Now, he knew he’d fucked up.

In the end it all boiled down to the parts of Danny that he still wanted to keep hidden; the bits of him that had rotted and decayed in Steve’s absence. He knew he was acting out of character – moodier and more withdrawn that usual. He knew the team – Steve especially – were worried, even if he overheard them chalking it down to him ‘still recovering’ or ‘overcoming trauma’ or something similar.

He knew, deep down, that he needed to come clean.

It was part of the reason he was heading to the bakery; bribe Steve with powdered donuts and then gently break it to him that;

  1. Danny had kept a ring that signified he was a Prince of an underground crime syndicate, Ryan was in fact a thief Danny had worked with, and that he visited Mikey frequently.  
  

  2. That Danny knew he was wading through a sea of grey and honestly didn’t know which way was up. That he missed the thrill of being someone he knows he never should have become.  
  

  3. That he never could be seeing Rusty because he was undeniably in love with Steve.



He honestly wasn’t sure which confession frightened him the most.

Turning onto Kapiolani, his mind is mulling over the best words to use, and which order he should go for, when he sees it.

A flash of silver in his rear view mirror, and the glint of a gun.

He quickly clocks two cars on his tail, the passenger of one holding an automatic weapon and aiming it at his car. Danny swears, swerves out of the way of a small hail of bullets, and presses down on the accelerator hard.

Fumbling for his phone, he quickly dials Steve’s number. “Come on…”

“Danny?”

He wastes no time with hellos. “Steve, I’m travelling east on Kapiolani and I got two cars on my tail. They’ve already tried to shoot at me once, I do not think they are shy of doing it again.”

He can hear Steve swear in response, the clunk of his truck door shutting, and then the gun of the engine. “I’m at the Palace. Think you can swing around and draw them closer?”

Danny swerves out of the way of a second round of bullets.

“I can try.”


	3. An Unbearable Feeling Of Wrongness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dark Danny and emotional Steve ahead. Be warned.
> 
> I don’t own Hawaii Five-0.

Thankful that the Camaro was still equipped with sirens, Danny turns them on and makes a swift 180, car screeching on the tarmac.

Now facing his assailants, he’s able to let off his own shots, hitting one of the car’s wheels and sending it skidding to a halt in a shower of sparks. The other car fires back however, leaving Danny to duck back inside the relative safety of the Camaro and focus on avoiding the incoming traffic as he sails through them.

Every moment of his time with Natoli comes back to him, swerving easily through the beeps and whines of furious drivers. He can’t help but grin, pressing his foot down harder on the pedal. The Camaro weaves effortlessly back down Kapiolani, before swinging off towards The Palace.

He can still see one of the silver cars in his rearview mirror, but he’s gained enough distance that they’re no longer shooting at him.

The Palace comes into view, and with it Steve’s truck.

Danny zooms by, watching as Steve pulls out in front of the silver escalade, trying to stop it. Unfortunately they swerve around the commander, continuing their pursuit of Danny.

Danny curses, but he can see Steve hot on their heels too.

At least for the moment he isn’t alone.

He presses harder on the gas, shooting off through downtown Oahu. The Escalade follows him furiously though, gaining on Danny as the streets become narrower.

Gun fire erupts behind him again, and he can feel when one of the Camaro’s wheels pops, can hear the grind of metal on tarmac and the sparks created. He grits his teeth, hitting the brake and pulling the Camaro into a skid. His gun is out the window again, letting off shot after shot.

The Escalade keeps coming. It rams into the Camaro, jerking Danny, and he grabs tight hold of the steering wheel, bracing himself as the car flips.

When he finally stops moving, he takes half a second to check himself over, then – certain he’s uninjured – waits for movement.

As soon as two pairs of feet approach his door, Danny fires, sending them crashing to their knees.

He rolls out from the wreckage, gun aimed at one’s head, then the other.

Two tanned men stare up at him, their eyes burning with rage.

Danny just grins. “Who sent you?”

No response, so he shoots both of them in the other leg. Their cries are like music, and he grins wider, getting closer to their faces. “Who sent you?” His hand is gripping one of them below the chin, and the thrill, the power, sends electricity coursing through his veins.

All the weeks of monotony, and now this. He’s almost thankful.

The man he’s holding grins, teeth stained with blood. “The Tiger sends his regards.”

Danny stiffens. “Is that so?” His gun is heavy against the man’s skull. “Then give him a message for me, will you?”

The two shots split the air.

“Danny!”

Steve pulls the truck to a dead stop, his own gun drawn as he runs up to his friend. “What the hell?”

Danny just looks up at him, blood flecking his cheeks, and smiles.

Steve doesn’t know how to respond when he pulls up at the scene. The Camaro is wrecked, and there’s a feral gleam in Danny’s eyes as he stands over the two dead bodies, gun still smoking.

“What the hell?” He whispers, and the look Danny gives him in response is simply chilling.

His friend looks almost… proud?... and it sickens Steve to his core.

But he says nothing. There’s nothing he can say.

He just calls it in and then bundles Danny into the truck, taking him home to the Lanai.

His friend is silent the whole journey, cheek still flecked with droplets of red, and the sight makes Steve shiver.

“Shower.” Danny says as soon as they get in, making his way upstairs, while Steve just sinks into the couch with his head in his hands.

He’d be fooling himself if he’d thought Danny was completely okay after the events of the past six months. He knew there was a part of it all that still lurked within his friend’s subconscious, but he never had thought that the part would be so dark and twisted.

Never had he thought he would see what he had today.

His friend needed help, and Steve didn’t know anyone who could possibly give it.

Still, he had to try.

When Danny returns he looks up at his former partner. “We need to talk.”

“We do?” Danny responds flippantly, moving to the fridge for a beer.

“Just sit down, Danny.”

“Why? So we can have a heart to heart?”

Steve doesn’t take the bait. He knows his friend all too well to know that sarcasm is his choice of defence. “Someone tried to take you out, Danny, and your response was to shoot them in cold blood.” He shakes his head. “I think both those things warrant a discussion.”

Danny just shrugs. “I can handle it.”

“I don’t think you can.” Steve sighs heavily, standing and moving to face his friend. “You’re not a cop anymore, for one, and second…” He doesn’t know how to say it.

“What?” Danny’s eyes are narrow. “I’m not myself?”

“You said it.”

“You were thinking it.”

Steve sighs again, running a hand over his face and through his hair. “I’m just worried about you. For all I’m trying to… to help… I can’t…”

“You can’t protect me from myself.”

It’s like he’s reading Steve’s mind.

“Look, yes, I’ll admit it. I’ve got issues.” Danny says with a huff. “But so has anyone who’s ever worked deep cover. I’m talking to someone though and I… I’m okay…”

“You got a therapist?” Steve asks, brows creased. It’s the first he’d heard of it.

Danny swallows. “CIA mandated.”

He doesn’t want to let it go, god knows he doesn’t, but he can only push his friend so far before he’s going to lash out, and if Danny’s talking to someone, maybe… maybe Steve doesn’t need to be so worried.

Maybe he’s seeing things that aren’t there.

Maybe…

One day, maybe isn’t going to be enough.

He isn’t talking to anyone.

He isn’t okay.

He can never tell Steve.

He has a job to do.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in updating this one. Honestly I feel like not many people are bothered about this one as much as you all enjoyed The Line, so I've been finding it difficult to write. Anyway, I'm determined I will finish it.
> 
> I don't own Hawaii Five-0.

The next few days progressed slowly and tensely. Steve was constantly keeping a watchful eye on Danny, whilst Danny was snapping at Steve for every little thing.

Things boil to a head when Steve’s tether on his anger finally snaps.

“You do realise you put yourself in a stupid position, right? If you hadn’t called me, if I hadn’t been able to label your actions as self-defense – ”

“What?” Danny cuts him off, and the smirk Steve had come to hate – the one he’d thought he could label as Jay, not Danny – is back. “I’d be in cuffs again?”

“Danny – ”

“They tried to kill me, Steve.” Danny’s eyes are hard. “They got what they deserved.”

Their gazes lock for several moments before Steve shakes his head. “This isn’t you.”

“It’s part of me.” Danny says, turning away to look out over the Lanai. “Maybe it always has been.”

“No. I won’t accept that.” Steve says, hand grasping firmly on Danny’s shoulder.

“It’s not your choice, Steve.”

“But it’s yours alone?”

Silence permeates the air, then;

“I know you visit Michael.” He’d let it go for a long while, but now… he was too worried to stay shtum any longer.

“So what?” Danny snaps.

“So you’re keeping yourself tethered to that life, and I don’t understand why!”

“You don’t need to.” Danny says, turning his back to Steve, subconsciously playing with the ring that weighs heavy on his finger. “I know what I’m doing.”

He doesn’t. Not really. With Natoli’s forces disbanded, he doesn’t even know where to begin.

Steve sighs. “I don’t think you do.”

Danny’s eyes are hard when he turns, boring into Steve with a burning intensity that Steve actually flinches. Gone is his fun, sarcastic, loveable partner. In his place is someone Steve doesn’t know.

He blinks, and Danny is gone, the door slamming shut in the distance.

It takes him a good ten minutes to go from staring out at the Lanai like it personally hurt his family, to feeling calm enough to go inside and try and talk to Danny. Trudging up the path, he scrubs a hand over his face, then sets himself, back straight, and walks inside.

“Danny?”

The first thing he notices is that the front door is open, and that sets off a twist in his gut that something isn’t right. Angry as Danny could get, even now, he wouldn’t leave the door open if he’d left.

He’s reminded all too clearly of the days before Danny had been taken by Daiyu Mei, when someone had broken into Steve’s house for the cipher and Danny had taken punches in his stead.

“Danny?” His voice is a little more frantic now, spotting drops of blood on the floor from the stairs. He races up them, two at a time, to Danny’s room, and the sight that greets him has his heart freezing in his chest.

Danny’s room has been ransacked, and it’s not the machinations of an angry individual racing for important things before they leave for a while, or even damage taken out in anger.

It’s the signs of a struggle.

The lamp is beside the bedside table, shattered into pieces.

The wardrobe door hangs open on its hinges at a wonky angle.

Debris litters the floor, mixed with more drops of blood.

Steve’s hand reaches shakily for his phone, pressing speed dial for Tani, and saying all too familiar words when she picks up. “Danny’s been taken.”

Danny groans as he comes to, feeling the distinct wetness of blood under his nose and at his temple. “What is it with people and knocking me out?” He grumbles, moving his arms to judge his movement.

Surprisingly he isn’t chained, or cuffed, or anything of the sort. He is sat in a chair, but he isn’t bound to it, and he’s actually surprised to feel plush velvet beneath his fingers.

Cracking his eyes open, he focuses on the woman sat in front of him.

She smirks. “Perhaps because you don’t seem to like to talk?”

“Oh I like talking plenty.” Danny coughs, voice rough. Did they drug him? “Just not when people come in through my window.”

“I’d have used the front door if I’d felt welcome.”

She’s blonde and lithe, and once upon a time Danny might have found her attractive. Now he just has the urge to punch her.

“I’m not in the habit of making friends with criminals.” He says, moving to rise from the chair. In an instant two guards melt from the shadows, guns aimed at him. Danny smirks. “These your boyfriends?”

She clicks her tongue. “Now see, I heard differently, Viper.”

Danny stiffens in an instant.

The woman rises, click of heels echoing around the dank warehouse. “You don’t look like anything special.” She takes Danny by the chin. “Why did Natoli choose you?”

“Good looks and killer hair?”

She gives him a dark smirk. “You’re funny.”

“It’s a gift.”

Her hand snaps quickly out, drawing his own up and out in front. A dagger sits in her other hand, its tip drawing closer to the ring on his finger. “You’re not wearing the Prince’s ring as a fashion statement, Detective. So tell me, where do your loyalties lie?”

“For starters, I’m not a Detective anymore, so what do you think?” Danny is smirking, slipping back into Jay as easy as breathing, but his brain is working rapid fire; who the hell is this woman and how does she know so much about him?

“I think you’ve got yourself a problem by the name of The Tiger.” She says, dropping his hands and sliding back into her own chair. The dagger still twirls dangerously in her hands, and for the first time Danny realises he’s unarmed. “The question is, are you willing to become a true Viper, and take him out?”

His eyes narrow. It’s one thing to be alone with his own thoughts, and another for someone to actually proposition changing his entire life. “Who are you?”

“My name is Ranii.”

Danny’s eyes widen a small fraction; imperceptible for most people, but not for her.

“So you have heard of me.”

Danny allows a small grin to spread over his face. “The most vicious of all of Natoli’s poisoners.” She obviously had her own reasons for being here – for taking him – but perhaps this was his way to The Tiger. Perhaps this was what he had been waiting for.

She smiles, sharp as a blade. “You’ve done your homework.” The dagger slides back into her belt as she fixes Danny with a stare. “The question is will you let me help you?”

“Help me?” His eyes narrow again. It almost sounds too good to be true, and after Eli… how does he know he can trust her?

“I failed Natoli. I will not fail you.” Her voice is sharp, determined, but also heavy with grief, and in that instant he just knows. “Do you want to take out The Tiger?”

He doesn’t hesitate. “Yes.”

“Will you let me train you?”

“Yes.” Again the answer comes quick and sharp, his grin spreading wider.

She nods, satisfied, and then slides from her chair onto one knee. The dagger is out again, blade lain flat in her palms. At her movement, the two guards do the same.

“Then I pledge myself to you and your service, until my death, Viper.”


	5. The Rig

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the lovely comments guys! You're inspiring me :)
> 
> I don't own Hawaii Five-0.

They ride out, the purr of a Ferrari familiar beneath him. Danny’s eyes are closed in the passenger seat, relaxed, un-minded by the men in the back seats, guns at their hips.

“Where are we going?” He murmurs to Ranii, who’s sat beside him.

Her eyes are focused on the road, but her lips quirk into a sort of half smile. “You’ll see.”

Danny raises a brow but doesn’t comment, eyes still closed. Another thirty minutes pass before the car pulls to an abrupt stop. Danny’s eyes flick back open, narrowing at the view of caves that greet them.

Ranii slips from the car, and Danny follows, the two men flanking him. She says nothing, doesn’t even check to see if he’s following her, just enters the winding caves with an air of self-assuredness.

The darkness is broken by lamps – shadows dancing on the walls – before opening out into a wide set of caverns.

“Welcome to The Rig.”

The Rig consisted of three circular levels, each with metal walkways suspended between them. Criss crossed bridges connect them, various men and woman passing over.

Danny schools his features to show feigned interest, but deep down he’s wondering why Natoli never told him about any of it.

The uppermost tier seems to be a medical wing, the second technological, and the first filled with training dummies and individuals practicing.

On the base level, plants fill the centre section, light spilling from an opening in the rock high above.

The instant they step inside, all eyes are on them, and Ranii’s voice booms out. “Kneel before the Viper, and pledge yourselves.”

As one, every man and woman kneels to Danny, “We pledge ourselves, Viper. We are yours to command.”

The effect is eerie, ominous, yet Danny just grins, eyes dark and heady with power.

This.

This is how he will take down The Tiger.

“At ease.” His voice booms throughout the cavern, and he watches with shocks of thrill as they all stand, nod to him in deference, and then continue about their duties.

Ranii grins at him. “You’re at home already.”

He flicks his eyes to her, lips twitching. “What is this place?”

She inclines her head, and he follows her to a door embedded in the rock. She unlocks it with a large brass key, pushes the door open, and then places the key in Danny’s palm.

“Your quarters.” 

The room is lavishly decorated, plush yet functional, with one side acting as an office and the other side a bedroom. The two spaces are separated by a thick divider of rock. Danny takes it in, a smile on his lips, before turning to Ranii as she closes the door behind them. “What is this place?”

“The Rig was Natoli’s base of operations in Hawaii. Now its yours.” Ranii gestures around the room. “You’re safe here from prying eyes. Here, I will train you. Here, we find out The Tiger’s movements.”

Danny grins. “Here, we plan to take him down.”

“Exactly.”

The Palace is a flurry of activity when Steve arrives.

Tani is already stationed at the smart table, hands flying rapidly over the keys. Other members of Five-0 are on phones, coordinating with other agencies and HPD. Lincoln is frowning at a tablet, looking frustrated.

“Where are we at?” Steve asks as soon as he steps through the door.

Tani’s hands whir over the keys, bringing up security footage from outside Steve’s place onto the main screen. “We have this from the street cams outside your place.”

She plays the footage, and Steve watches in horror as Danny is carried forcibly from Steve’s house, hands tied and a bag over his head. From the way his friend’s body is lolling in the attacker’s arms, it’s clear he’s unconscious. The person places him into the back of a nondescript car, and then gets into the driver’s seat.

“We tracked them for a few miles, but then we lose coverage.”

Steve swears. “This is all too much like Daiyu Mei for my liking.”

Junior jogs over. “I checked with penitentiary and she’s still locked up. No visitors. No communication. Chances are, she had nothing to do with this.”

Steve nods. “I want you and Quinn to head over there anyway. Talk with everyone, talk with her. Make sure she’s clear before we strike her off the list.”

Junior nods, calling over Quinn and leaving in a flash.

Steve turns to Lincoln. “Why the face?”

He shows Steve the tablet; faces of four women – all similar – staring back at him.

“I managed to find a partial of the driver’s face after she takes the mask off, and ran it through CODIS. Four possible matches. But,” Lincoln taps the face of one woman, bringing up a larger picture and various details. “this one has a linkage point with CIA databases. Could be something to do with the case Danny worked.”

“What’s her name?”

“Ranii Elandra Natoli.” Lincoln replies.

Steve nods, though his face is pinches. Something about the name tugs at his memory. “I’ll give Malone a call. See if he can fill us in.” He turns briefly to Tani, patting her shoulder. “Keep trying to find that car.” Then he slips into one of the offices and pulls out his phone.

“Malone.” It picks up after two rings, but Steve has no time for pleasantries.

“It’s Steve McGarrett. I need your help.”

A pause, then. “Commander, didn’t think I’d be hearing from you so soon.”

“Danny’s been taken.”

Another pause. “What?”

“Look, I know he left and that means he’s not yours to find, and I get that, but from what little Danny told me, you were close.”

“What do you need?” Malone’s voice is all business, but Steve can hear the undercurrents of tension. He’s worried too.

“We matched a partial face to four IDs, but one had a hit to your system. Ranii Elandra Natoli. I need to know if she had anything to do with Danny’s case.”

There’s a sharp intake of breath from Malone, followed by several curse words, and just that gives Steve reason to pale, hand shaking around the phone.

“What is it?”

“His daughter.” Malone whispers, his own voice shaking. “Francesco Natoli’s daughter. They call her The Rattlesnake.”

“Francesco…” Steve’s tongue clicks, mind working overtime. “As in Franco? The guy Danny was working for?”

“One and the same.” Malone replies. “Look, Steve, if she has him… if she in any way blames him for her father’s death… Danny’s as good as dead.”

Steve reels, stumbling back against the table, hand gripping for purchase on the edge. His entire body shakes, legs weak beneath him. “No… No… He’s alive. I’d know…”

“Steve…” Malone sighs. “I’m not saying it is, but – ”

Steve cuts him off, swearing venomously. “No. He was out and he was okay, dammit.” He starts pacing, running a hand through his hair. 

“Did anything happen to precede this?”

Steve sighs. “There was a tail on him this morning but… before that, no. I mean he kept seeing the damn guy in county but…”

“Keen?”

“Yeah.”

“And you let him?”

Steve growls. “I’m not his damn babysitter, Malone.”

“No, but you’re his friend.” Malone replies. “Was he at least seeing someone to help him through it?”

Steve freezes. “I thought he was seeing one of your guys?”

“Steve… Danny hasn’t contacted us in weeks…”

Steve’s phone snaps shut, fist hitting the wall.

**Author's Note:**

> Please do let me know what you thought of it. Comments are food for evil authors :D


End file.
